Leena Riekkola

Leena Riekkola is a spatial ecologist and conservation biologist who enjoys making maps and discovering patterns. Her research focuses on using multidisciplinary approaches and spatial modelling to understand the behaviour and habitat use of marine mammals. Through her work Leena provides critical information to conservation and government agencies, allowing them to make well-informed decisions around reducing human impacts on animal populations.

Leena is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Auckland | Waipapa Taumata Rau (Aotearoa | New Zealand), where her research focuses on a circumpolar analysis of the movements and habitat use patterns of multiple southern right whale (SRW) populations. The aim of her project is to compare current and projected SRW feeding habitats across the Southern Ocean to investigate if key feeding areas will change in the future, and how these changes compare between different populations. This work is part of an international collaboration under the auspices of the International Whaling Commission – Southern Ocean Research Partnership and the Southern Right Whale Consortium, and builds on a fellowship funded by the NZ Royal Society (Te Apārangi).

Like the whales that she studies, Leena is a long-distant migrant herself. She grew up in Finland but completed her undergraduate and postgraduate degrees at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. After completing her PhD Leena joined NOAA in the U.S. as a postdoctoral research associate, investigating ways to reduce whale entanglements in fishing gear. During her career Leena has conducted research across the southern hemisphere, from New Caledonia to Antarctica.